Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade

Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) refer to restrictions that result from prohibitions, conditions, or specific market requirements that make importation or exportation of products difficult and/or costly. NTBs also include unjustified and/or improper application of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) such as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and other technical barriers to Trade (TBT).

NTBs arise from different measures taken by governments and authorities in the form of government laws, regulations, policies, conditions, restrictions or specific requirements, and private sector business practices, or prohibitions that protect the domestic industries from foreign competition.

Examples of Non-Tariff Barriers

Non-Tariff Barriers to trade can arise from:

Import bans

General or product-specific quotas

Complex/discriminatory Rules of Origin

Quality conditions imposed by the importing country on the exporting countries

Unjustified Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary conditions

Unreasonable/unjustified packaging, labelling, product standards

Complex regulatory environment

Determination of eligibility of an exporting country by the importing country

Determination of eligibility of an exporting establishment (firm, company) by the importing country.